Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-08-31
THE COURT ROUSE CLOCK.

TH0n Evef-I0e Tower H011nO0 o00
solidided So ~ to Resist tie Worst
E6brts Of the Elements.
The welcome sound of the Court House
clock ia once again heard and. in addition.
the large .dials, which are illuminated at
night, makeittwice as useful as before. The
work of altering and repairing the tower in
which it is placed has been necessary for
many months previous to the time when it
was commenced. 1t was q matter Of abso-
lutte necessity when it was at last under
taken, AZ the timbers had sprung and the
tower rocked dangerously. The work that
has been lone was commenced two months
ago. Adam Altman had charge OF the car
p,nter work, and the best testimony as to
it's efficiency are the words of Mr.. Leyson
to the representative of The MINER: IN
the course of my professional existence l
have had occasion to visit many clock
towers. but l never saw one that is in
Such PERFECT CONDITION
as this clock tower now is" And it fully
bears out the high compliment here paid it
for Mr.. Leyson's experience extends over
many years and in many cities. To give
an idea of the amount OF work that has
been done there. it may be stated that To-
900 feet of lumber has been used IN the
work of refining and STRENGTHENING the in
terror; that the worknen had to bridge
sixty.five feet in height; that the frame is
double-bridged with 2x8 boards; that the
door oists are 2x12, and that nine kegs Of
nails were used. The most tedious part OF
the Job was in getting the lumber up, since
it was stated by Mr.. Altman that it took
twice as long to get it up to where they had
to work as it took to put it in place. The
work begins with the floor OF the tower,
which has been relaid.
A STRONG wooDEN STAIRCASE
now replaces the old rickety affair that did
duty for one, by which the ascent to the
chamber of the clock is easily made. The
clock itself is encased in a wooden cage,
which will completely guard it from rust.
Mr.. Leyson said that when he removed it
at the commencement of this work it was
completely rusted all over. the open condi-
ton in which it stood had worn away the
pallets so that the accuracy of the move
ment is destroyed, and it will be necessary
to renew them. The clock has been COM
pletely overhauled and cleaned until it
looks like a new piece of machinery. It is
from the factory of E. Howard & Co.. of
Boston. 1t took Mr.. Leyson and Mr..
Pearce four days to clean, take it apart
order.
THE CLOCK ITSELF
weighs from 1900 to 1900 pounds, and the
weight of the clock and the striking side is
about a ton and a half. The weights are
suspended by steel cables, capable of bear
ing a great deal more than this weight.
The weight that runs the clock
weighs about three thousand pounds,
and the cable sustaining it is car
ried down through a shaft to one Of the
wings of the Court House where the weight
hangs on the first floor "a the ground, SO
that should any accident break the cable
no damage could occur to the building. It
will be seen from this how great a weight
the clock tower has borne in the past when
not in the best condition to sustain it.
The original plans OF the Court House did
not
CONTEMPLATE THE ERECTION
of a clock in the tower, and consequently
no provision was made in building the
tower for the enormous additional weight
a tower clock would of necessity impose
upon the structure. But it was found after
the building was up. by the County Com
missioners, that they had funds enough on
hand to warrant putting in a clock and
Messrs. Leyson & Turck were obliged to
put the heavy structure up in a tower
which they knew was toe weak to hold it
when even a gentle zephyr blew. Instead
of improving, time only made matters
worse. The tower became Weakened by
every successive storm until it's condition
became really dangerous. As soon as they
bad the means, which was only last June,
the present Board of County Commits.
siOners
AUTHORIZED THE PRESENT WORK
by the completion of which every employe
about the Court House feels relieved of q
constantly impending crash OF matter that
was certain to occur sooner or later. All
that remains for the carpenters now to dc
to finish the entire work is the belfry. The
whole interior will then be painted so as to
preserve the complete and perfect interior
from the effects of the weather in this high
latitude. This was to have been com.
menced yesterday, and will be completed in
a day OF two, once begun, the contract
udVluS Dccu IcC. Liz COWeTs do IcCcuUiy
stated. is illuminated by powerful electric
lamp placed Immediately over the cage in
which the works OF the clock are boxed. A
reflector above this sheds the light 20 as to
fall upon the large seven-foot dials, which
are
VISIBLE FROM ALL PART
of the city, and even seen in South Butte
OF course the figures and hands on the dial
are only distinct within a much shorter ra.
dius than this. But the comfort and con.
venience of the new arrangements are be.
yond question, and the resumption OF its
duties by the town clock will he hailed
with pleasure by all classes. The york OF
regulating is so as to have it in perfect or.
der will lie only a question of time, and
Mr.. Leyson will visit it every two or
three days from now on until
he has it adjusted SO perfectly as to be
what it should be, a correct and reliable
indicator of the flight of time. This faith
full public servant having once more re-
sumed active functions, it is to be hoped
that it will continue in it's usefulness to fu-
ture generations, and be the time-keeper
of the city when the hopes of it's present
inhabitants are realized to their fullest ex-
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